Being positive role model focus of Clinton’s life

By Michael Crumb, Editor mcrumb@amestrib.com

Saturday

Sep 2, 2017 at 12:01 AMSep 3, 2017 at 12:02 AM

When Wayne Clinton first learned he would be inducted into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame, the first person he thought of was Don Carlson, the principal who first hired him to teach at the old Welch Junior High School in Ames.

“I could imagine Don is up in Heaven looking down, smiling at what I’ve been able to accomplish in my lifetime here in Ames, 51 years,” Clinton said.

Clinton, now 76, will be inducted in the Iowa African American Hall of Fame on Sept. 16 during a ceremony in Des Moines.

Clinton was born and raised in St. Louis and played basketball at Beaumont High School. He remembers being one of just 12 black students in the segregated high school in the late 1950s. He never associated with his white teammates outside of practice and games, Clinton recalls.

He went on to St. Louis University on an athletic scholarship to play basketball, but for all matters of purposes failed because he seldom attended classes. He sat out a year, working at a local hospital where he dissected monkey brains for an ophthalmologist. It was a chance meeting at a high school basketball game where his former high school track coach approached him and told him recruiters from Northeast Missouri University in Kirksville, Mo., may be interested in him.

Clinton went on to play point guard and competed in long jump, triple jump and hurdles in track, and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in 1966 and earned his master’s degree in 1969.

He thought about pursuing a professional basketball career, but he knew the odds were against him being black and coming from a small school. He decided to go into teaching at the urging of his college track coach. Enter Don Carlson.

Carlson called Clinton, who was 24 or 25 at the time, and said he had an opening for junior high social studies teacher and a coaching vacancy.

Clinton said Carlson talked to local realtors to hold apartments for him and his family so they would have a choice of apartments to choose from.

He said his family and the Carlsons became close.

“We almost became part of their family,” said Clinton, who reached out to Carlson’s brother Bill and daughter Deb after learning of his upcoming induction to express his gratitude to their brother and father.

Clinton coached track and eventually worked into coaching basketball, where he was the junior varsity coach at Ames High School in 1983 and became head high school coach in 1984. Clinton went on to win the Division 3A state championship in 1991, becoming the first African American coach in Iowa to win the state title. He stepped down from coaching basketball in 1994 but continued to be an assistant track coach until he retired from teaching in 2000. Along the way, he also was the first coach of the Ames High girl’s softball program.

Clinton served four terms on the Story County Board of Supervisors, retiring at the end of 2016. He also held leadership roles in the Iowa State Association of Counties and recently was awarded the organization’s Golden Eagle Award for his contributions to county government. He also was active in the state’s juvenile justice commission, among other things.

Clinton said when he looks in the mirror each morning he acknowledges the fortune he’s had over his life.

“How blessed I am, that’s what I first think about,” Clinton said. “But I’ve always said those things didn’t happen by all myself, it happened because of the network of quality people I’ve been blessed to work with, and collectively we’ve built a network that allowed to me excel.”

He also credits prayers from his grandmother.

“She prayed for me daily, and said, ‘Wayne, one day I trust God will look out for you do great things in your life,” Clinton said.

He also said his grandfather, who raised him after his father and who wore a suit and tie every day, instilled in him the work ethic and morals he needed to succeed.

Clinton and his wife Edna have two sons, Antwan, 53, and Aaron, 35, and one daughter, Danielle, 52. They also have nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

He said if he had any advice for his 18-year-old self, the one who didn’t attend class and lived in a time of segregation, it would be to “dream big and don’t let disappointment and setbacks deter you from your dreams and goals.

“There’s infinite possibilities; you never know what you can achieve if you put forth the effort,” Clinton said.

It’s also important to surround yourself with a circle of people who can help and guide you to success, he said.

“To me, those are the things that happened to me early in my career,” Clinton said.

He’s been inducted into other halls of fame, but those have been for his athletic career, or his officiating. He also officiated basketball and football at both the high school and collegiate levels.

But it’s this honor that Clinton said means the most because he sees it as a reflection of his work and the impact he’s had on a statewide level.

For Clinton, it goes back to those people in his past who influenced, encouraged and mentored him, including that principal who gave him his first job at Welch Junior High all those years ago.

“This would never have happened without Don Carlson seeing something in me and having faith in me, and I was so determined that I never wanted to let him down, didn’t want to disappoint him,” Clinton said.

But over and above the accolades, Clinton said his greatest achievement is working to be a positive role model to others.

“I look at my story as hopefully being an example of what is possible … that’s all I can do in life is be a shining example.”

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